After weeks of polishing textures, models and game logic and..., I decided to put my new project in public. Open for suggestions and criticism. http://hvor.madpage.com/monstrumo.htmSoon I will upload the game at JGF so webstart will be supported. Unfortunatelly, for now you can just see screenshots, without sounds or music which gives a lot for right gaming impression.

Well I got it to work on my other computer, and it looked really good, environment was creepy, nice effects and everything. Only problem was.. it looked really good, and my other computer isn't really fast (I would have posted this earlier, but the Java forums suddenly went down).

Anyway, now I'm trying to load it on my better computer, and I'm getting this:

jws should really have some offline verification tool so that developers would get this warning right away. Guess most ppl got this error at one point or another You need to sign all jar-files if you want permissions.

Hi all, Im back.And I'm sorry to read all that problems you guys had. Permission issue was probably in early phase when I was testing my webstart support ( I remember that one version was unsigned... ) Maybe javaws is reading an old cashed jars (which were unsigned at first) instead of fresh jars which are OK ? Can I suggest then to run javaws.exe, and remuve monstrumo from cache. Then, during next click-to-run webstart will download fresh SIGNED jars...Webstarting is new ground for me, too. And I have one question: I could provide native jars for non-windows platforms, but as I understand (right?) lwjgl_devil.jar module is only for Windows. And since I am using it, there isn't chance to get it work on, for example, linux?

It's quite slow, isn't it? Albeit there is no fps counter (at least i couldn't find any) to tell exactly how fast it runs, it just feels slow. Too slow for a 3.2Ghz machine with a X800XT-PE graphics card IMHO. The collision detection can be annoying at times. It makes no sense to me to get stuck in dead enemies. How does it work? By shooting rays into the scene (it feels that way somehow...)? Also, it would be better to slide along the trees (or any other obstacle) instead of just getting stuck.

How slow? I could update version with FPS counter on screen. Meanwhile you can download FRAPS and check it out... I agree that optimisation is still an issue, especially with 3d tree models, when I render 30 of them each frame. For the future... (I am getting 30-40 FPS on Radeon9800Pro)

It makes no sense to me to get stuck in dead enemies. How does it work? By shooting rays into the scene (it feels that way somehow...)? Also, it would be better to slide along the trees (or any other obstacle) instead of just getting stuck.

I agree about dead enemies. It's a bug. Suggestion for sliding along trees is accepted, it's really more natural way to handle movement.

Slow is: 10-11fps (measured using fraps). That's on a P4HT 3.2Ghz, ATI X800XT-PE using the latest drivers under Java1.5/Windows XP. Vsync is disabled, so is AA. Anisotropic is set to 4x in the drivers. The game runs with normal view distance @ 1024*768.

Tried to run it on a P4 2.4Ghz with i846G-whatever- integrated graphics. This graphics solution isn't exactly a power horse, but it can run Paradroidz at 40fps for example. Monstrumo runs at around 10 SECONDS per FRAME. Something seems to be wrong with your rendering code IMHO.

secondly the window was a borderless window donno if this is intentional but usually a window is either just full screen or a window with a border.

tnx for feedback. Window is borderless intentionally. It felt better to me that way. Soon I will add fullscreen option in options menu, so there will be windowed and fullscreen mode.As for exception. Hmmm. Seems that on linux there are problems with MIDI Audio Device. Currently I have no idea what's going on, but I will check it out

Slow is: 10-11fps (measured using fraps). That's on a P4HT 3.2Ghz, ATI X800XT-PE using the latest drivers under Java1.5/Windows XP. Vsync is disabled, so is AA. Anisotropic is set to 4x in the drivers. The game runs with normal view distance @ 1024*768.

Well, that's weird. I confess that there is much to do in order to raise performance (LOD for trees,grass, VBO for models, now everything is more or less rendered with display lists..) But THAT slow framerate is just weird. I have an laptop here at my job with 2.0 GHz processor and old, old Radeon 8500. And I am getting 15 FPS in average. More than yours P4HT 3.2Ghz, ATI X800XT-PE? Weird...

On my second machine (XP3200+, GF6800GT), it runs better at 25-30fps, albeit this machine is definitely slower (even if not much) than the P4 is.. Can try it at the weekend on another machine with an X800Pro if that helps.

I did some changes that should raise the gameplay:1) fullscreen - go to options, and select it (it is default option). Around 40% better FPS in fullscreen mode for me!2) roll over effect in menus so that player knows when will something happen if he click the mouse button3) increased movement speed. Now running and exploring the island is more dynamic, I think.4) A little darker exterior, for better mood. 5) If someone is interested in little stats (fps, camera pos...), press F10 to see them.

Just some progress info. This weekend I concentrated on two aspects : performance and better visual experience. I discovered that my think() class that I call every frame for each visible enemy could have been improved. So i've done that. On some places performance was 100% better than before !Besides that I added some colorful bushes, more realistic looking palm trees and smoother pirate's animation.Soon I will upload everything (sometime tomorrow) to new version.

These shots were taken in 1024*768 resolution on my AMD64 3000+, Radeon9800Pro at home. Framerate never dropped below 60 FPS, and sometimes it hit 100FPS (when there is less in your frustum). Good.

EDIT: Last edit today, (I hope). It's late and I am going to sleep. I really don't know why didn't add more sounds to the game earlier. I just recorded some hey's, steps, scary laughs ( , don't laugh at me if they are not scary, I'm peaceful man). Gameplay is much better actually when you can HEAR you enemies patrolling around and when you KNOW that they noticed you!

the game starts, I also can set options, but when I want to start it loads and then I get an unknown error from my Java Webstar.I'm running it from Linux

I am sorry to hear that! Until now I have thought that Monstrumo runs on Linux (kapta tried it and it works, all except midi which wasn't loaded properly...). What do you mean by an unknown error? Any stack trace? And did you hear some music at the menu?

I am thinking how to implement more dynamic fight with swords. Something that will move gameplay a little beyont hit - block - hit - block - hit style.... I could add an extra pirate attack so he will have 2 of them. Also, player will have two block types (egg from the left and right). So fight will be more chalenging: player needs to observe which attack is pirate performing and react accordingly (with one block or another) in order to stop it. Moreover, he will have to time his block properly. Only thing I am not shure about is if that type of fight is too complex for FPS (maybe I should leave it for RPG?) Any suggestions?

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